There Can Never Be A More Beautiful You
by Scarlet has Fantasy Issues
Summary: She was a dreamer, but lived waking nightmares. He was the Goblin King and her one safe companion...Jareth/OC A few one shots put together intended to make people feel better.
1. There Can Never Be A More Beautiful You

**A/N: This story helped me feel better when I was down. If you think the name of the OC sounds familiar, check out my profile. What you see will probably give you something to think about in regards to this story and the sanity of its author…Oh well, on with this story before the Goblin King gets his tights in a bunch…**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A brunette sat at her secondhand desk, typing away on her laptop with a frown on her face. There was nothing special about the girl. She had plain light brown hair, a round face, eyes that were lit up with dreams of a better future. Her body was not as slim as her friends' nor did it do what she wanted it to half the time.

The only things she could think of that separated her from the rest of the pack of crayons the world was, were the facts that she was smarter than most and had an undeclared case of schizophrenia, on top of her writing talent. But there was one thing she cherished more than her writing talent…

She had a steady friendship with Jareth the Goblin King.

At first, she'd been skeptical about his existence. She'd seen the movie that they had made that circled around him and some girl named Sarah and had been transfixed by him. Not the man who played him, but the character of Jareth. The girl had fallen for the cocky attitude, the secretive smiles, and the dreamer's heart. It had been a dream to find out that he was really real, that dreams do come true with a little help…

She turned her head slightly, pretending to check a notebook for something she was typing. In truth, she was glancing at the bed where the Goblin King lounged, idly tracing glittery designs on the ceiling with a lazy finger.

_How did I get so lucky_? the girl asked herself. _I have a bond with someone who grants a dreamer her heart's desires…but…why am I not happy?_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth's eyes were focused on the ceiling, following the idle glittery designs that his finger traced in the air. He was aware of the tapping of the girl's fingers on the keyboard and how it halted every now and then with the sound of a page turning in its place. It was a familiar sound now and had been for two years now. Since she believed in him in the way he believed in her.

It had been years – _decades_ – since Jareth had ventured to the human world on more than business. When he had, he found a world of young people dreaming the shallow dreams of someone who could dream no better dream than that of fortune and fame. It saddened him to see that there were few who believed in the fanciful world that he was a part of.

_Had they all been forgotten?_

Jareth had nearly lost hope and returned to his land full of Goblins and magic until he found himself following a path he did not know. Then he found something. He found_ her_.

The girl's dreams were that of a better world. A world of peace and magic, of love and happiness. Jareth clung to those dreams, enjoying their childishness. Oh the fantastic creatures the girl dreamed up and the tales she went through!

But all dreams are not far from nightmares. The girl lived a waking nightmare because of her condition. _Schizophrenia, _she called it. He had read up on it in their moments apart, but had experienced it firsthand in their time together. She lived in constant terror of hurting someone, of hurting herself, and the things she saw…Oh, how terrible were those things that she saw, but he had a feeling she was holding back the worst when they spoke about her episodes.

"Damn it!" the girl cursed, hitting the desk. "Go away already!"

"It's not there," Jareth said calmly, his eyes flickering in her direction briefly. "Samantha, you and I are the only ones here…"

The girl lapsed into silence, but Jareth was aware of her anger, her terror. Both emotions were thick in the room, replacing the tranquil air that she had given off moments before.

_If I could take her pain away, I would in a heartbeat_… Jareth thought, lowering his hand so that it rested lightly on his stomach.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sam closed her document and opened up her internet. Well, it was her neighbor's internet; she just _borrowed _the signal every now and then. She logged onto a social website and read through the status updates, ignoring the links that she had never bothered to care for. To her dismay, there was a party going on at a classmate's house, a 'friend'. A _beautiful _friend. She could see the girl's beautiful face in hundreds of photos.

_Why can't that be me? Why am I stuck with this plain face? This pitiful excuse of a body? I'm destroying myself a little more each day? Why can't I lay off the fries? Why do I have to eat?_

Sam stared at a particular photo of the beautiful girl. It was full of laughter and friends and the girl never looked so happy, so sure of herself in her life.

"Jareth?" she asked timidly. "May I have a wish?"

"Yes." Jareth's eyes turned to her once more. "What shall it be now? A fantastic new creation of yours?"

Sam shook her head and pointed at the photo on her laptop's screen. "I want to be beautiful…I wish _I _was _beautiful_."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth fell silent, regarding her through mismatched eyes. Studying eyes. Sad eyes.

Sam cleared her throat and lowered her hand, placing it on her lap. "Did you hear me, Jareth? I made a wish…"

"I heard," was his reply as he looked away from her.

"Then where's the crystal? Where's the glitter?" Oh, how she loved the glitter that surrounded him! "Why haven't you granted me the wish?"

"I cannot grant a wish for something that is already there," Jareth said, glancing at her once more.

Sam looked confused. Jareth rolled his eyes, pushing himself into a seated position. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood, making a show of dusting off and straightening his leather vest. Sam watched as he crossed the small distance to her desk. Jareth passed a hand in front of the laptop's screen and it became like silver glass, reflecting the room and the two of them. He noticed how Sam quickly looked away.

"Samantha," he began gently. "What do you see when you look in the mirror?"  
"A fat, ugly troll," Sam responded a little too quickly, a little too harsh for his liking.

Jareth let the hurt show in his eyes and Sam quickly looked back at the mirror, hoping to please him with a better answer.

"I see a girl with plain brown hair, a round face, dark circles under dull eyes," Sam whispered, scrutinizing herself in the mirrored laptop screen. "I see a girl with little friends, schizophrenia, and sadness…Sadness that goes on forever…" She looked up at him. "Please Jareth, I wish to be beautiful."

Jareth sighed again. "You silly, little girl…You _are _beautiful." He pointed at the mirror screen. "I see a girl who takes care not only of herself but of others, whose kindness towards everyone speaks volumes of beauty. I see a dreamer's eyes, sparkling and full of life, full of desires for a better world. A glorious future. I see a heart that can love forever and open itself to the world." He smiled a small smile. "I see a beautiful girl and her name is Samantha…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sam stared up at Jareth in wonder. "Me? Beautiful?"

Jareth's smile turned into a smirk. A secretive smirk. Sam wondered if she would ever be allowed to share in his secrets…

"Yes. You."

Sam looked at the mirror again and frowned, trying to see what he saw. She could see the light in her eyes, but then she saw something she didn't want to see. Oh God! Why did she have to see these horrible waking nightmares? Why?

"Jareth! Make it stop!" Sam exclaimed, upsetting the chair and turning away from the world, from the vision. "Make it go away!"

Jareth enveloped her in his arms, letting her rest her cheek against his chest. He stroked her hair with an ungloved hand, holding her close and offering silent comfort.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth felt the dreamer tremble in his arms. He tried to pass on strength through his touch, to chase away her demons. He wished that it was for an entirely different reason that he held her in his arms.

"Jareth…I'm sorry," she whispered and Jareth felt a drop of water touch his chest and then another.

He could feel her sadness, the terror returning, crushing away her dreams and silencing her happiness. Jareth pulled her closer and stroked her hair as if petting it would hold off that vile emotion – terror – forever. He knew it would never work though.

"It's a pity these things can't be wished away," he commented aloud, putting a voice to his rushing thoughts. "There are, however, many hugs in your future as a substitute."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sam closed her eyes, but the crystalline droplets of sadness continued to wet Jareth's chest. "There won't be _many _hugs. I'm not popular enough for many hugs."

Jareth laughed, it was a light pleasing sound. "You have quite a number of friends in all grades of your high school. How could you number so many as so few?"

Sam shuddered again as another flash of a vision passed before her eyes. _How can they follow me with my eyes closed? How can I still see their faces? Their horrible, rotting faces!_

"Jareth…I just want these things to go away," Sam whispered, her fingers curling in his shirt, pulling her ever closer to Jareth's warm body. She wondered when her body had grown so cold. "I want to wake from these living nightmares before time passes me by and no one notices me enough to love me…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth smiled. It was an open smile, a welcoming smile. He gently tipped Sam's face up and watched her open her wet eyes. There in the pools of sadness, he saw hope and longing for love. It was something he understood very well. It was something that he had felt since he had found the world of empty dreamers.

Until he found her.

"Samantha, there are people who have noticed you," Jareth told her quietly, tipping his head to the side slightly. "Haven't _I _ noticed you? People have loved you…"

Sam looked up at him, her eyes drying with confusion and hope. "And have…you?"

Jareth smiled down at her and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I have, little dreamer."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha tapped away at her laptop, listening to Jareth sing to her from the bed. She heard her parents mutter to each other about how her condition had grown worse since she had absorbed herself in the fairytale world, but she didn't care.

She wasn't invited to the beautiful friend's next party, but she was beautiful to someone who really mattered in the world.

_There can never be a more beautiful me_, she thought, allowing Jareth to envelop her in his arms once more.

Jareth smiled and pressed another kiss to the top of her head. "Precisely…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: So what do you think? If you want more, tell me. If you want clarification, tell me. If you absolutely hate my guts/my story, tell me about that too. You will find I'm good at listening and very understanding. Please let me know what you're thinking as you read this. Thanks! ~ Scarlet**


	2. As the World Falls Down

**As The World Falls Down…**

Samantha threw another object across the room, tears rolling down her face in rivers. She had to let all of the sadness and anger out of her or she'd go crazier than she already was. Her parents saw it as a frenzied act of madness, a sign that they were losing her a little more with each second that passed. They weren't in the room, but they could hear her animal-like cries of frustration and agony from across the house.

_This is not fair! I shouldn't have to go there! I don't want to go there! They will drug me and I won't be able to function…I'm scared…Why are my parents doing this to me?_

She knew her parents did not want to send her to the hospital. She was their daughter and they loved her with all of their hearts, but she was getting out of control. Her episodes were hindering her life, keeping her from finding the joy of living. It was even getting to the point that her siblings were afraid of her and her friends were pulling away.

_I'm ripping at the seams! All of this bad, evil stuff is bursting out of me and I can't do anything to stop it…God, why won't someone help me?_

"Jareth," she cried out, throwing a vase in a shower of glass. "Why have you abandoned me?"

OOOOOOOOOO

Jareth heard his name being called, it never seemed to end. Since that blasted movie had come out in the eighties and had become popular again in the twenty-first century, his name was always on someone's lips. But the only person whose tongue should whisper the name of the Goblin King was a sick young woman.

All he could think about doing was going to her house because he could feel her fear and agony even from halfway across the world. It pained him that he could not be there to help her, but the High King had made it clear that his job was to come first and that love had to come second, maybe even last in some situations.

"_Dreamers do not have time to wait while you cater to a single dreamer. The Labyrinth would lose its purpose if you did not have dreamers to run it. And what about your Goblins? You can't make more of them without defeating dreamers," _the High King had said. _"Do not worry about that girl….She can entertain herself with her own dreams instead of having you there to bring her greatest fantasies to life…"_

How Jareth hated his father for that. Samantha did have beautiful dreams on good nights, but she lived waking nightmares. She had opened up to him about what she had seen. The horrible visions that passed before her eyes at any given moment were the things that he wished he could take away from her…

"_Jareth, I killed her…I killed her in cold blood…I wrapped my hands around her throat and strangled the life out of her until her skin turned red, then blue…" _Her hands had trembled and her eyes had filled with crystalline tears. _"Her eyes were wide…I could see them popping out of her skull…And Jareth…when I came back to reality…my hands…they were fists, squeezing so tightly that my knuckles stood out white against my skin and my nails drew blood from crescent moon cuts…But it didn't hurt me…Seeing it happen over and over again hurts and I still can't get rid of the feeling of her throat giving way under my hands…I killed her!"_

Samantha had run away when she had come to reality and told only a select few of what she had seen…what she had nearly done….

Everyone had been horrified by it, Jareth knew, but they had brushed it off like it didn't matter. It did matter, but maybe it was only to him. And it certainly mattered to Samantha, but even the powerful Goblin King could do nothing to help her beyond a hug and kind words.

_Jareth…_

"Hold on a little longer, love," Jareth whispered, watching the current dreamer run the Labyrinth to reclaim of all things, her cell phone, through a crystal "I shall be with you as soon as this one fails…"

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha's cries faded and died out in her throat, now hoarse from so many screams. Her body trembled as she sank down in her walk-in closet, her back to the door so that no one could enter or disturb her. Tears still fell in crystalline rivers from her eyes and haunting images flashed before her eyes.

Her head was a prison. Every voice in her head was screaming, trying to be heard over the other. The voice that was her was quiet in comparison, lost amongst the haunting voices that were hers and a stranger's at the same time. It made her tears fall faster as she clutched her head.

_It's going to explode…One voice that becomes too loud will send my brains flying everywhere…but will anyone miss me? Will Mom and Dad, my sisters and friends miss me?_

_No…they'll be glad to get rid of such a burden. They pulled away from me, cringing in fear at what I confided in them…I'm too strange for them now…too out of it…Mom and Dad, they're sending me to the hospital to be 'observed'…they don't have to lie to me. I know what that means…the doctors are going to lock me with loonies and drug me so that I'm happy and really out of it all the time…Goodbye dreams of a better world…all thanks to the voices in my head…_

Samantha hit her head back against the door, hoping to see stars instead of the horrible images of her abusing another image of herself. She did not want to hurt herself, but she found strange cuts on her with each morning that she awoke to…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Goblin watched with a scowl on his face as the runner gave up but demanded to have her cell phone back. He knew it was not the way, what was wished to him was never given back unless the Labyrinth was solved. The girl would just have to learn to live without her cell phone and he told her just that before sending her back to her room with an ugly look on her face.

_Finally…_

Jareth vanished from his world and appeared in Samantha's room in a swirl of glitter. He saw that her door was ajar and waved his hand. The door snapped shut and locked on its own, granting Jareth and Samantha privacy once more. Then he looked around the room for his little dreamer.

The room was a mess. Artwork was shredded on the walls and floors. A few stuffed animals had lost their stuffing and the puffy, white fluff lay around the carcasses of the toys. Shards of glass glistened and cracked under his boots, the flowers of the vase thrown in chaotic disorder on the floor.

"Samantha…" he breathed, waving his hand so that all was restored to its original state.

He could feel her terror and looked towards the door of her walk-in closet, feeling the source was hiding in there. Jareth stepped through the door and the girl, just as he had with the first runner of his Labyrinth, before turning to look down at the dreamer he had spent years searching for.

Her eyes were blank, staring off into the distance. Tears were still sliding down her face and her face was red. Her mouth hung open slightly, her lips parted and her breath rasping through the space. Her hair was disheveled and knotted, but Jareth passed a hand through it, running his fingers through her silky hair and smoothing the knots out.

"Samantha," he said gently, passing a hand in front of her eyes. "Samantha…"

She didn't blink. She just continued to stare without really seeing anything.

Jareth sighed and reached out, gently shaking her by her shoulder. For a few minutes she didn't respond, hardly even breathed. Jareth tried to picture the horrible things she saw, but found that he could not stomach it. He knew that what he envisioned could not compare to the horrible things that she saw on a daily basis.

Suddenly, she blinked and looked at him. Her eyes welled with fresh tears and she leapt into his arms, burying her face against his chest. Jareth held her close and rubbed her back.

"It's all right Samantha," Jareth whispered in a soothing voice. "It's over now…"

"It's never over…" Samantha cried against his chest.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha sat in the dark of her closet with Jareth, tears slowly starting to dry up on her face. Her eyes were no longer wet and she felt exhausted, drained from all the sadness and anger that had been forced out with the tears. She believed that she had cried enough for the day.

"Samantha…what has made you so upset?" Jareth asked, letting her thread her fingers in the spaces of his.

"Mom and Dad…they think it's time for me to be placed in more _capable hands_," Samantha muttered, staring in wonder at her hand joined with his.

"More capable hands…?"

"They're sending me off to a hospital in Ohio," Samantha explained with the edge of bitterness in her voice. "For observation and testing…to prove if I'm really schizophrenic because apparently, what they've seen and heard is not as accurate as testing…"

"And do you want to go there?"

"Sure. I want to be drugged up and forced to do activities with other loonies…" Her eyes started to water again. "I'd be happy if everything was made to appear so happy and dreamlike. What do you think?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth had never known Samantha to get this sarcastic with him. She claimed to speak fluent sarcasm on her social network profile, but Jareth had yet to experience it firsthand. He realized that she was only doing to this to keep the flood of emotions back, for his sake more than her own.

"Samantha, they can't force you to go anywhere," Jareth pointed out, breathing in the scent of her hair: pomegranate. "You are eighteen."

"Even eighteen year olds have to bend to the will of their parents…we're not full adults until we're twenty-one years old and have moved out of the parents' house." Samantha let her hand drop to her lap. "I have to go…because maybe they can make me better…"

Jareth picked up on the sarcasm again and sadness. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder, his breath tickling her ear. "I don't want you to go, little dreamer."

"I don't want to go either…" She turned her head slightly and Jareth saw the sparkle of a tear slide down the curve of her cheek. "The thought of going there, away from my home, away from my friends…away from you, it scares me, Jareth."

Jareth understood what she was saying. She was always afraid, but with no one there to comfort her, she was more afraid. Jareth knew that she had adjusted to his presence, taken his involvement in her life as happily as one could when finding an understanding companion. But Jareth also realized that she had grown to rely on him alone to help her in her moments of terror and pain, just as he had grown to rely on her presence to keep him sane.

She was his constant companion, a sharer of the most beautiful dreams. Never had he a dull moment with her and her imaginative tales of love and good. Without her, he felt that there would be no reason to continue…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha realized that Jareth had gone silent and wondered if she had said too much, if she had overstepped her bounds of friendship with him. She stared across the closet at the dark mirror, seeing even darker shapes move about in the darkened glass. A whimper came forth from her lips and she drew herself closer to Jareth.

With a flick of the wrist, Jareth produced a crystal that glowed in the darkness, casting dark shadows along the wall. Samantha took the crystal in her hands and looked down into it, not caring about the light.

She could see a happy dream world in the heart of the crystal. Her dreams, she realized, mixed with Jareth's in a beautiful combination. He had said that he had been searching for a dreamer with dreams to match his and she had wondered if that was why had stayed with her for so long.

"Jareth…can I wish away the voices? The hallucinations?" she asked hesitantly. "Can you make them all go away?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was a request that he had seen on her tongue before, but she had always held her tongue. It had been a request that he had searched the world for an answer for. But it was that simple request for peace that he could not give her.

"A mortal's mental condition cannot be changed by a simple wish," Jareth replied quietly, wishing that he had a better answer for her. "No magic can take away the voices or the hallucinations, my dear…" He sighed and looked up at the ceiling above him. "Though I wish it was not true…"

Samantha fell silent and Jareth sat there in the darkness with her and her sadness. They sat that way for a moment before Samantha opened her mouth once more.

"Jareth…take me away from this," she whispered. "Take me away from this world of living nightmares and place me in a world where dreams come true…"

Jareth was startled with the request. "You want to come with me to the Underground?"

"Yes…"

Jareth turned her gently in his lap and looked at her face. She was staring intently at the dream world within the crystal. Then her eyes turned away from the crystal and locked on his. There he saw the silent plea.

"You can never return once you are there," Jareth told her quietly. "You'll have to place the mortal world behind you…leave your parents, your sisters, friends and pets…"

"Will they remember me?" Samantha asked.

"No."

"Oh…" Her brow furrowed. "Will I remember them?"

Jareth smiled a small smile. "Yes…" He caressed her face. "It is up to you if you would like to join me in my world, Samantha…I will not pull your strings or make the decision for you…I would love to be able to spend every moment with you, but it's not up to me…You can stay here with your family…or join me in the dreamer's world…All it takes is a wish."

Samantha hesitated for a split second before opening her mouth. "I wish I was with you in the Goblin City."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha's parents heard their daughter make the wish and looked at each other with sad expressions on their faces. They had just lost their daughter…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: I hope you like this as much as the first one shot. I've been in a depressed mood lately and writing this out helps exorcise my demons. I write this for you, so please be kind enough to read and review. ~ Scarlet**


	3. Come Down To Me

**Come Down To Me**

Jareth watched Samantha sleep. It seemed to be the only time that she was truly at peace. In her dreams, the waking nightmares dare not enter and snuff out the happiness that Samantha held so dear. But Jareth knew with a heavy heart that the waking nightmares twisted the girl's dreams at times, making her wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air and trembling in a cold sweat.

"My little dreamer, what do you dream of tonight?" Jareth whispered, touching her face gently.

His fingers traced over the pale skin, following the contours of her cheekbones with ghostlike caresses. Samantha stirred, but did not wake up.

"_Bringing a mortal to the Labyrinth without turning her into a Goblin is not wise…especially since the one you have brought is far madder than any of your subjects…"_

_Perhaps it is the world that is mad and not Samantha_, Jareth thought, looking away from the slumbering girl. _Perhaps she is seeing the world clearly, the horrors of it all and the beautiful way it should be, while we live in a world that is so dull and colorless…_

"Jareth…"

The Goblin King turned his head in the direction of the soft voice, but her eyes were not open. As he watched she sat up slowly and turned away from him, throwing her legs over the side of the bed. Jareth rose as Samantha did and he watched her open the bedroom door, passing through it, all without waking from her dream. But once out of the room, Samantha started running and disappeared around a corner before Jareth could stop her.

Worry settled in the pit of the Goblin King's stomach. Samantha had not been in the castle more than two days and she did not know of the dangers lurking in the castle or the grounds surrounding the City. There was no telling who or what she might run into and Jareth was afraid that someone was going to get hurt…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha opened her eyes slowly, wincing against the bright light of the full moon as it hit her face. She looked around her and wished that she hadn't. What she saw scared her beyond the waking nightmares she usually dealt with.

Somehow, she had managed to climb her way up a tree and now she was precariously perched on a branch about thirty feet above the ground. And to make it worse, there were snakes slithering below her, their evil eyes focused on hers and their tongues flicking, tasting her scent.

_I must have sleepwalked…again…Mom will be so upset – wait, I don't have a mother anymore…I'm in the Underground with Goblins, Kings, and…snakes… _Samantha swallowed her fear, but more settled in her stomach. _I was climbing a ladder and it really turned out to be this tree…God, how could I have made it this far? I can see the Labyrinth walls and the junk yard…Oh no! I'll be stuck here until morning and then Jareth will be furious at me, thinking I did this on purpose…_

The sound of boots approaching could be heard below. The snakes reared up, but lightning had them slithering away to their hidey holes. Samantha leaned a little forward and saw the Goblin King looking up at her.

"What are you doing up there?" he asked, his hands on his hips.

"Um…I don't know." Samantha admitted, scratching her head. "But I'm not coming down…"

"And why is that?"

Samantha turned her eyes away from him, hugging the tree as she had hugged him once before. "Well, I don't know how I got up here in the first place…and I'm afraid of heights…and there are_ things_ down there with you…"

"Things," Jareth repeated, cocking his head to one side. "What things?"

Samantha shivered as if touched by a sudden cold. "Bad things…"

She saw a light come to life in Jareth's eyes, realization dawning on him. Samantha closed her eyes, counting backwards from twenty. Sometimes the hallucinations would be gone when she opened her eyes after twenty seconds, but not always…

"Samantha," Jareth's silky voice came from below her. "Come down."

_Oh Jareth, I wish I could…but I'm scared. Something isn't right about this place, on this night…_The words almost came to her lips but she swallowed them. Jareth didn't need to worry about things that were not real. Part of her wished that she was back in the human world where she could call her friends – if they still cared – and talk with them about her fears, about what didn't feel right.

"I'm not coming down."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth rolled his eyes and adjusted his stance. He had a feeling that Samantha was not going to be easily swayed in this decision. For all he knew they could be out there for the remainder of the night.

"But you could come up…" Samantha suggested, pointing her foot at a branch a few feet below and across from her.

Jareth looked up at her for a moment, waiting for her to crack a smile, but it appeared that she was completely serious. It had been years since Jareth had climbed a tree and centuries since he had climbed one for a girl. But just as he had for the first girl, he would do it with the hope of different results.

"Very well," Jareth said, swinging himself up into the tree.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha almost wanted to laugh, seeing the Goblin King climbing a tree for her in his tights, but she knew that he wouldn't appreciate it. She settled for a small smile that fell almost as soon as she thought about it. The voices were bad tonight and she wondered if they were the reason she had sleepwalked in the first place.

She tried to smile at Jareth when he perched on the branch she had pointed at, but tonight smiles were hard to produce on her end, even in the presence of the man who had been granting her wildest dreams.

"Jareth…are you hiding something from me?" she asked, finally voicing the question that had been eating at her since she had arrived at his castle.

"And what, dear girl, would I hide from you?" Jareth inquired, smiling that private smile of his. "You know…everything."

"Everything?" Samantha shook her head and leaned against the tree for support. "If I knew everything…well, I wouldn't have this mental problem, now would I?" The corner of her lips turned up a little. "I think you're hiding something from me…something that you're too – well, something you don't know how to say in an aloof way."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth listened to Samantha talk to herself, watching her with amusement. The more she talked to herself, the more she seemed to confuse herself. She couldn't possibly know what he was hiding from her; he had guarded that secret for a long time now. It could not be revealed to her until she was ready and tonight, in the hold of an episode, was not the time for her to learn the truth.

The dreamer was silhouetted against the moon, her skin drained of color in the pale silver light. Jareth couldn't help thinking that he had found the most beautiful young woman in the world, even if she wouldn't believe him when he told her. It was not the outside of her being that he found the most beautiful – for there were those graced with greater beauty than she in that regard – but it was the inside that he found his heart race.

_Never have I found one quite like you, _Jareth mused in the safety of his mind. _I have scoured the earth looking for a gentle dreamer and finally I have found you. You have an open heart, giving love to all those who need it…your dreams are fantastic worlds that you have never seen, but wish into existence…you are truly remarkable._

"Jareth, are you going to turn me into a Goblin?" Samantha asked, frowning down at him.

"Why do you ask?"

"You've told me that people that are wished to you are usually turned into Goblins…"

Jareth smirked. "My dear, do you really want to become a Goblin?"

"No."

"I would not turn you into a Goblin, anyway. You are too special of a find for me to take away with the transformation of a Goblin. What would I do if I turned you into a senseless Goblin? Who would I turn to for companionship?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha was puzzled, studying Jareth's face for any telltale signs of deceit. The Goblin King had rarely lied to her, but when he did it was for her own good. She knew she was a creature of fragile emotions, wearing her heart on her sleeve for all to ogle at and that Jareth was protecting her from the worst of the world, but she didn't like to be lied to.

Only this time, Jareth was not lying to her. She would not be turned into a Goblin.

_But what else is there for him to hide from me? _Samantha thought, crossing her arms and nudging his shoulder with her foot. _Will he say the words that I haven't heard from a boy since freshman year?_

Samantha shook her head and settled back against the tree, closing her eyes. "Jareth…why can't you be open with me?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I have been open with you as I have been with no other," Jareth said, twirling a crystal about on the tips of his fingers. "Consider it the highest honor I can give you."

_And the highest honor you can give me is to say the words I have waited to hear for decades…_

"I can't help feeling that you have something to say to me," Samantha murmured, peering at him through her lashes. "Something important…Is that why your father was so mad at you when he came by the other day?"

"Perhaps…" Jareth flicked his wrist and the crystal turned into a white rose. "But you should tell what's on your mind first…"

"Why?"

"The rule is: ladies first."

Samantha sighed and hugged herself, looking at the moon through the tree branches. Jareth waited for her to speak to him, to put voice to the thoughts that he could see racing through her mind. Oh, how he wished he had been psychic and then he would know all that went through his little dreamer's mind.

"Jareth…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha softly sighed his name, thinking of how romantic this scene could have been if he had been the one to bring this up first. But she thought that everything about him screamed romance in some way. She just couldn't help herself…

"Jareth…I…I've done a lot of thinking since we met last year," Samantha began quietly, staring out at the moon and stars. "I've thought about my future and what good could come from it. Trust me, it's not much."

The Goblin King chuckled softly. "I doubt it's as bad as you think."

Samantha shook her head. "I've been thinking about you a lot and about our future…are we going to stay friends for the rest of my life, or will we become more than friends…?"

"We shall be anything that you want."

"But it can't be only what I want. It has to be what you want too." Her eyes turned to him for a brief moment. "Jareth…I think I'm in love with you."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth heard the words and smiled at her. They hadn't been exactly what he had hoped for, but they'd suffice. At least the important parts had been included in that one little sentence.

"_I think I'm in love with you."_

The Goblin King held the white rose out to Samantha and she took it carefully. She frowned as she lifted it to her face, sniffing it lightly. Jareth knew he had to do something to make that frown go away.

"Samantha, come down," he said, holding out a gloved hand. "Or do you not trust me?"

"I trust you, but…" She looked at the branch he was sitting on doubtfully. "I don't think that branch could support the two of us. I am a fat ass."

Jareth felt a flash of irritation course through him and he climbed to his feet, grabbing her by the front of her nightshirt. The sudden look of alarm in her eyes as she was pulled closer to his face did not sway the King's anger.

"You are not a _fat ass_!" he snapped, glaring up into her eyes. "You are a healthy young woman, who knows better than to starve herself! Do you understand?"

Samantha nodded, but Jareth was unsure if she was doing it out of fear or because she understood. He hoped for the latter.

Jareth pressed his lips against hers in a deep kiss. Samantha, untouched by a man for all of the years of her life, was hesitant to kiss him back, but with some gentle encouragement, Jareth felt her kiss him. He pulled back a few moments later, letting the two of them breathe.

"I don't understand," Samantha whispered when Jareth released her. "I mean, I understand that I can't call myself the f-a-t word anymore, but why did you kiss me?"

"Are you really that detached from reality that you can't see what is evident?" Jareth asked.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha felt irritation seep into her like poison at his words. "Are you trying to imply that I'm brain dead?"

"No."

"Well, that's what it seems like to me."

"Perhaps the way you see things is off…"

Samantha pushed him away from her, even if she really wanted to keep him close to her. Jareth didn't budge, his hands falling on top of her knees. "Jareth, you're starting to make me think that you are in love with me…"

Jareth simply smirked at her. Samantha stared at him for a moment before giving up on getting an answer. It seemed his smirk was the only answer that he would freely give.

"Okay, so you won't tell me," Samantha said, kicking him lightly on the thigh. "You'll make me puzzle over it for hours until the point that I give up on it…And then you'll taunt me with the fact that I don't know the answer for even longer."

"Oh really?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth saw the irritation in Samantha's eyes and saw that some of her fear was back. He wondered what she was seeing as she looked at him, but then again he didn't want to know. He just wanted to take it away and give her the best life possible after so many years of pain.

"Perhaps I should give you another hint?"

Samantha's eyes widened when he spread her legs and slid between them. He was barely standing on the tree anymore, choosing to float instead. The Goblin King gently brought Samantha's face down to meet his and he kissed her again. This time her hesitancy was shorter and she quickly wrapped her arms around him, making the kiss even deeper. Jareth pulled away a moment later, resting his cheek against hers.

"So, have you found out my secret, little dreamer?" he whispered in her ear.

"You want me…?" Samantha's answer was softer than his question as if she was so sure it was ridiculous that it didn't need to be overheard.

"Well, that's one way to put it," Jareth commented quietly, caressing her face gently as he pulled away. "I was thinking of another word besides _want_ but that word suffices." His voice turned into a gentle growl. "Come down to me, little dreamer."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha watched Jareth climb down the tree, though it was more like falling very gently to the grass below. She played with the flower in her hands and waited for him to reach the bottom. The demons – the hallucinations of them – were back, but Samantha did not feel fear. There was a new warmth in her that she did not understand, but embraced at the same time with the familiarity of all the other emotions she had cherished.

"Come down to me, Samantha," Jareth called from below.

Samantha dropped the rose and watched him catch it. She turned and carefully started her descent from the tree. Her way down was less graceful than Jareth's but at least she made it down. Jareth wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, whispering a song to her as he led her into a dance. She did not understand the words because they were in another language long forgotten, but she loved the way the words sounded.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth tucked Samantha back into bed, kissing her forehead lightly. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. Jareth, feeling slightly tired himself, kicked his boots off and joined her in the bed, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"_I do not condone this Jareth…"_

_I do not care_, Jareth thought as his father's words haunted him. _I am in love…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: Oh, how I love you reviewers! You make me happy and you've given me great compliments! I hope to continue doing this for you, but these one-shots take time and deep reflection for me, so I'm sorry if I don't update as quickly as I should. **

**I thank you for sticking around for so long and hope that you continue to do so for the duration of this series.**


	4. I Won't Let Go

**I Won't Let Go**

Jareth walked the gardens of the labyrinth aimlessly. His eyes were on the magic crystal in his hand and the challenger of the labyrinth, currently running the labyrinth. But his thoughts were elsewhere, centered on one person just as they had once been centered on his job.

Samantha, the captor of his heart and his closest friend. The beautifully imperfect, young woman who made him weak in the knees and gave him strength with each word and thought, with each dream shared.

He knew that taking her away from her home was the best choice for her, for him. She hadn't wanted to go to the hospital – a place where she feared losing herself completely – and Jareth hadn't wanted her to go either. He had wanted her to stay with him all along, but he realized that it was selfish of him. He had guided her thoughts, her decisions up to this point with gentle persuasion and understanding.

"Little dreamer, where are you today?" Jareth whispered, flicking his wrist so a second crystal appeared in his hand.

What he saw surprised him…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha walked around a forest in the labyrinth, running her hands over the glittery tree trunks. Her eyes followed strange shapes and shifting colors, but she knew someone was with her. She could hear them breathing next to her, waiting for her to answer the question he had voiced moments before.

"Yes, I am Samantha, but you may call me 'Sam'," she murmured, glancing at them before the shapes caught her eye again. "A mere dreamer in Jareth's world…"

"You are more than that…to Jareth, at least," the stranger said, bringing a small smile to Samantha's face.

"Perhaps," Samantha agreed, dipping her head in acknowledgement of what had become evident to her recently. "And you are more to him than just the highest king…You're his father."

There was no denying it and the High King pulled off his cloak, revealing a face that was as proud as Jareth's but harder. Samantha felt sad when she looked at him, knowing that his dreams were beginning to fade, changing into something that she hoped Jareth would never have to face. She didn't want to see this hardness in Jareth's eyes nor did she want to have it reflected in her eyes.

"What can I do for you?" Samantha asked, holding her hand out to touch a shape, but her fingers passed through thin air.

"I do not understand why Jareth chose you over his responsibility," the High King said, hooking his hands together behind his back as they walked. "He has done so over twenty times now. Dreamers get impatient when their call goes unheeded and lose faith in this world. If all dreamers lose faith in this world there could be severe consequences for us all."  
"There will always be dreamers…" Samantha turned her head slightly to look at him. "Dreamers young and old…those who don't change their dreams no matter how old they become or how hard the world tries to squish out the dreams…" She frowned. "I am sorry if Jareth's relationship with me has caused him to neglect his duties…but what can I do?"

"What can you do?" the High King repeated, quirking up an eyebrow. "You could leave."

"Leave?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth felt a flash of anger mixed with horror as he gazed into the crystal at his father and Samantha. The High King was telling her to leave? After everything that he had done to ensure her peace and safety, his father was telling her to leave?

"Oh no Father," Jareth whispered, his scowl returning. "You shall not make her leave this place. She is my subject and my companion. Without her…well, there won't be any thought about that…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha shook her head. "I'm not leaving him…I wished myself into his world, into his possession. I can't undo the wish. I can't go back to my old life."

"Then why are you not a goblin?"

"Jareth -"

"Has a responsibility to turn anyone wished to him into a goblin should the labyrinth not be defeated," the High King cut across her. "You, therefore, should be a goblin."

She bristled, finding it hard to keep back her anger. "Now, listen here! I may be mad…a little touched in the head, but that doesn't mean I have to be turned into a goblin! What use would Jareth have for another goblin? Who would he talk to?"

"There are other Fae women…"

Just as quickly as her anger had come, it vanished, leaving behind emptiness. "Oh…"

"They have kept Jareth's attention before and they can do it again, my dear," the High King said not unkindly. "And just think, every goblin is mad so you would finally fit in with people. Just think of it."

"I see…" Samantha whispered, reaching up and using the deaf knocker's ring to open its door.

She didn't look back at him as she continued to walk. "I will think about this, sir. And I will give you my answer in fifteen minutes."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth felt his pulse race, sending hot blood throughout his body. He was absolutely livid. How dare his father try to break his dreamer's heart! Jareth had known his father to be a cruel man, but never to a woman. Did he not see what he had done to Samantha?

"How could you, Father?" Jareth asked, very aware that his father was now standing behind him. "How could you be so cruel to a sick, young woman after I have told you how cruel the world is to her already?"

The High King's face was unreadable as he looked at his son. "You should have turned her into a goblin, Jareth. She is a problem just waiting to gain complete control over your life."

"I will not turn her into a goblin," Jareth spat, tossing his crystals aside. "I have already told you how I feel about her."

"Jareth, you have fallen in love with dozens of women. What makes this one more special than every other lover you have taken?"

"She sees the world far clearer than anyone I've ever met. Samantha likes things I do not and will not change her mind about them no matter what I may say." Jareth glared at his father. "She loves me for who I am and understands me far better than all of the people I have known for centuries and she's only been around me for a year. I am her protector, her confidant, her lover and her best friend. I am her world, just as she is mine." He turned his back on the High King. "There is a bond between Samantha and I that even you could not fathom."

"The girl needs to leave Jareth," the High King stated. "She is a human and humans age and die very quickly. What you have now will be a memory in half a century."

"I will not let her die!"

"Then let her leave or change her into a Goblin."  
"No. That is as bad as asking me to let her be bitten by a vampire!"

"Well, that's always an option as well." The Goblin King's father looked off to the side as if admiring a flower. "Jareth, she is upset now. You should go to her and coax her decision out of her. But do not encourage her to stay. She will be much better off in the human world."

"That is where you're wrong Father," Jareth muttered, turning on his heel and vanishing in a swirl of glitter.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha looked up when she heard someone move. Glitter floated in the air as Jareth appeared, but for once it did not bring a smile to her face. She looked away from him, resting her chin on her hand. Samantha ignored him just like she had ignored the fiery gang when they had come to serenade her.

"Samantha," Jareth whispered, approaching her slowly. "What have you been doing?"

She sniffed and glanced at him. "I believe I've been crying, but don't hold me to it. I'm not sure of anything anymore." Her eyes lowered once more. "Of course, I'm sure that your father wants me out of here. I have been the reason you've been neglecting your responsibility to this kingdom…"

"Oh really?" Jareth smirked, looking down at her. "I hadn't noticed."

Samantha turned her face away from him and pushed herself to her feet. She nearly lost her balance, but he steadied her with a hand around her waist.

"Jareth don't do this," she murmured, keeping her eyes focused on something past his shoulder. "Don't put me over something that keeps this world alive in the hearts of people everywhere. If you need to keep turning people into goblins or satisfy dreamers around the world, then I'm not going to stop you."

"If I wanted to do that, there is not a chance that you could stop me," Jareth pointed out, sliding a hand down her back as he pressed her closer to him. "Think Samantha. What power do you hold over me?"

"None."

Jareth smiled down at her. "You are a wonderful girl, but what powers you have are very weak. Love is your strongest power and that is the power that we share. That is what makes me want to protect you and to keep you with me forever."

Samantha shook her head, still not meeting his eyes. "Forever is a long time and…I'm afraid humans cannot achieve such a long life span as that…I'm only human."

"You can be so much more," Jareth whispered, tipping her face up so that he could look her in the eye. "Just open your soul to me…I won't let you go…"

Samantha saw that his lips were lowering to hers and she let her eyes flutter shut on contact. The kiss grew warmer, tender and Samantha felt herself giving into Jareth...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth kept his eyes open as he kissed his little dreamer. His eyes glowed, but Samantha didn't appear to notice. Jareth 'infected' her with a Fae gene and let it multiply in her system.  
It wouldn't eradicate her flaws, but it would keep her alive longer and would make her part of his world, even more so than she was already. She wouldn't notice it at first, he was sure of that, but soon she would find signs that she was turning Fae. He had no doubt that she would be upset with him for making such a change without her permission.

_I'm a selfish, greedy bastard…_Jareth thought, blinking so that his eyes returned to their normal mismatched coloration. _But I can't get enough of this dear girl…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: So, here's the fourth installment of the 'There Can Never Be A More Beautiful You' series. I hope you like it more than I do right now. And also, I was wondering if I should write a scene where…**_**you know what**_** happens. Ha-ha! That would be so awkward and fun to write…maybe. Ah well, let me know what you think in the reviews page. Thanks for all the love and support. ~ Scarlet**


	5. Why Do You Want To Change Me Now

**Why Do You Want To Change Me Now**

Samantha stood outside her closet and frowned at the contents. She had gone through her 'normal' clothes – her jeans and t-shirts with funny sayings on them – but now all that remained were the foreign clothes that she had never seen before. It appeared that Jareth had given her some familiar clothes but would prefer her to wear clothes that he thought suited her.

_But I like my own style_, Samantha thought, tugging out a pair of black slacks and a red shirt. _I don't even like silk…or cashmere…or whatever the hell this fancy stuff is. I like normal cotton and denim. This…this is too much…_

She laid out the fancy clothes and dug into her underwear drawer. Again, it was fancy, Victoria Secret style underclothes. Samantha made a face but put the clothes on anyway.

It made her uncomfortable to be wearing such clothes when she had always been a poor man's daughter and had dressed like one. Wal-mart had always been fine for her and they did have some nice clothes, but these clothes she was wearing felt like department store clothes.

"Something has got to give…" Samantha muttered, closing her closet door.

Glitter clung to her hands and Samantha tried rubbing her hands together to get it off. The glitter floated magically in the air and vanished before it hit the floor. Samantha quirked an eyebrow and flicked her wrist, not expecting anything to happen.

A crystal appeared on her hand and Samantha was so surprised at its appearance that she yelped and dropped it. She had magic!

Sam's eyes narrowed and she looked towards the door to her room. "Jareth…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth felt a wave of anger coming towards him and assumed that Samantha had just figured out what he had done to her a week ago. He knew he had infected her with the Fae gene, granting her an extended life and that things were going to be a bit strange to her for awhile.

"Mr. Jareth Whose-Last-Name-Was-Never-Revealed-To-Me-If-You-Even-Have-One!" Samantha snapped, storming through the door to the throne room. She paused and looked back to see her foot was still in the door. "Dammit Jareth! What did you do to me?"

Jareth smirked and tapped his cane on the side of his boot. "I have re-altered the world, reordered time, and I have done it all for you…"

Samantha didn't even crack a smile at the line where she had once grinned from ear to ear at a line similar to it. In fact, her eyes seemed to grow darker with anger and Jareth sighed. He should have expected this…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Jareth, I'm only going to ask this one more time and I expect a straight answer," Samantha seethed, ignoring the bright colors that shifted before her eyes. "What did you do to me?"

"I have given you a generous gift," Jareth told her calmly though his smirk remained fully in place. "More generous than any I have given before, dear child."

"I never asked for this _gift_. All I asked was for you to be my best friend, maybe even more."

"And finally I can dear one."

Samantha irritably walked around the pit in the floor, kicking goblins out of her way. One goblin refused to move so she grabbed it by the throat and threw it out the nearest window. She didn't listen for the scream of it falling to its…whatever happens to goblins when they're thrown out the window.

"Jareth, you could have been with me before you turned me into a…into a…"

"Changeling," Jareth offered with a smirk.

"Whatever it is that you have made me," Samantha looked up at him. "I want to be changed back. I was happy as a human."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth rose from his seat and approached her, swatting goblins aside with his cane. Samantha lifted her chin up in defiance with a stubborn gleam in her eyes. It amused Jareth to see her acting this way.

"Happy as a human…" Jareth repeated, looking down at her. "You were not happy as a human. You were a miserably, sad young woman lost in a world that was so cruel. Now you can see the beauty of the world and enjoy its wonders for centuries at my side."

"Jareth…change me back."

"I can't. Once the change is made, it can't be undone." He smiled slightly. "You are the same as you once were, just a little more _equipped_ to handle this world."

"Why did you change me, Jareth?" Samantha demanded, crossing her arms. "Didn't you like me the way I was?"

"I did, but I am a selfish man, Samantha. You must realize that." Jareth reached out and caressed her face. "I could not let you age and die so soon after I found you. Time, it is meaningless to me, but suddenly it was the enemy when I met you. It was stealing a little more of you with each passing moment we shared, each moment that passed with the two of us alone. It was cruel to me, mocking me with the knowledge that at any moment, I could lose you forever."

Samantha closed her eyes slightly at his touch and put a hand over his. Jareth felt his heart warm at the sight of his loved one so much at peace and content with his lightest touch. Her eyes found his again, but Jareth saw that the stubborn gleam was still there – faded, but still there.

"Samantha, I could not let you pass away. I want you. All of you and I will not be content until I know I have you as you have me."

"Jareth…" She sighed, breathing his name. "You should have told me your plan…if this was your plan all along?"

"It was the moment my father threatened your stay here and reminded me of the fragile relationship of humans and time." Jareth ignored the quiet goblins as he pulled Samantha closer to him. "You must not be angry with me, love. I did this you as much as I did this for me."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha looked up at him, suddenly thinking her anger through. All Jareth had ever wanted for her was the best. Why should she get mad when he bought her new clothes? Why did she get so mad when he had changed her into something better suited for the Underground? It didn't make sense after everything that he had said and what she saw in his eyes. He had gone out of his way to make her life easier, to allow her to be with him longer than she could imagine.

Forever, was it really that hard to grasp the entirety of it? Jareth had promised her happiness forever, but she had never known forever could last so long. It had always seemed like fifty, maybe sixty more years, would be forever for her. That had never seemed long enough for a man who had lived over a thousand years already. A brief blip in his mind that was soon long forgotten…

Now, forever was really forever. She could spend forever with this man who claimed – promised – that he loved her. It was unimaginable to think of all the things they could do, all the places they could see in a span of forever. Time would become meaningless to her as it had to him and they would move through it without changing, without losing their love…

The possibilities seemed endless…

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth watched Samantha's thoughts pass behind her eyes, far too quickly for him to grasp what she was thinking. Her eyes drifted away from him and focused on something floating in the room. He realized that just because he had changed her into a Changeling, that didn't mean she was cured of her schizophrenia.

_That is one part of her that will never change_, Jareth thought, rubbing her back slowly to give her a connection to this world instead of the world of nightmares in her head._ And I am unable to take it away from her…it is as much part of her as her dreams, creating the dreams that I love so much from within the darkness…the dreams of beauty that are borne of the darkness that seeks to claim her soul, but the light of them keeps the dark at bay…I wish to be part of that light in her life…_

"Jareth..." Samantha murmured, looking back at him when the glassiness of her eyes fled. "I don't know what to say to that…I don't know what to think…"  
"Think only beautiful things," Jareth whispered with a small, charming smile. "The hand of Time and Death has been torn away from you. Now all that lies before us is forever…"

"Jareth, is it possible to love forever?"

"Yes."

Samantha placed a hand on his chest, feeling his strong heartbeat speed up under her touch. "Jareth, if that is true, why did you give up your love of the other women in your life?"

Jareth's smile faltered. "Samantha, I did not love those women as I have loved you. Their love was a shallow love based upon looks and status –"

"I'm no looker," Samantha muttered, stepping away from him to touch the arm of his throne. "And compared to your social ranking, I'm a mere pauper. You must have seen something different in me…" She glanced at him with a small smile. "Perhaps even lowered your standards?"

"I did not lower my standards with you, Samantha…I raised my standards. Money, looks, and social status mean nothing to me. Those who have them without kind, internal beauty are shallow creatures that I do not wish to speak with." He walked over to her and tilted her chin up with a gloved finger. "You claim to not be a looker, but you are merely looking at yourself as the world saw you…for who you were on the outside. See yourself as I see you, for what is on the inside and you will find a beautiful girl."

He placed a kiss on her forehead. Samantha closed her eyes at his touch and Jareth smiled at her. It made him happy to know that his touch affected her like this…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Jareth, I'll try to see people – myself included – as you see them," Samantha whispered, looking at him when he pulled away. "But you need to make me one promise before I let my anger go completely."

"Ask for anything and it shall be given…"

"I want you to promise not to change me anymore. Not my hair color. Not my fashion. Not anything but my mind…on certain matters." Samantha pushed him onto his throne and leaned over one of the arms. "Do not change me."

"Is that all?" Jareth asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Samantha smiled sweetly. "Yes."

"I shall do as you wish…" Jareth said, waving a careless hand. "As long as you figure out how to get these goblins animated again."

The girl looked around to see the goblins staring up at her expectantly. She knew there had to be a catch to all this wishing….

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: So here's to the fifth installment of this series of one-shots. I don't know where to go from here, so hopefully another song strikes the right note and sends me down another path soon. I love to read your points of view on this series, so don't be afraid to review me. I'm nice, if at times sarcastic, but I promise to not be sarcastic with you. (That's for another one of my stories that's getting bad reviews. :P) Anyway, please read and review and let me know what you think. ~ Scarlet **


	6. She Believed Never In Herself

**She Believed Never In Herself**

Jareth watched Samantha juggle a couple of crystals for a moment before making his presence known. He touched her back gently and waited for a reaction. She jerked in surprise and dropped the crystals that popped like bubbles before they hit the floor. A smirk appeared on Jareth's lips when he saw how flustered she had become.

"Jareth! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Samantha hissed, smacking him lightly on the arm. "You know it bothers me."

"My touch bothers you?" Jareth asked, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

"No." She swatted his hand aside only to get her hand caught by his. "Jareth, what do you want?"

Jareth entwined his fingers with hers and pulled her close. "I have something to tell you. Good news perhaps."

"Oh really? What is it?"

"We're going to have a ball."

Instead of her face lighting up with happiness at the thought of a ball, her face fell. She frowned at him and Jareth didn't understand why.

"Samantha?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Jareth, are you sure?" Samantha asked, pulling away from him. "Are you sure you want to throw a ball now?"

A quirked up eyebrow was her response.

She sighed and walked away, irritably throwing her hand out to catch a colorful shape, but it vanished before her hand clasped it. "Jareth, I don't want to go to a ball."

"You've always said that you wanted to attend a ball because it would be the 'next best thing to prom'. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Jareth…" She shook her head and thought about how to put it. "I like to dream about going to balls with you, but going to an actual ball with people I don't know is something that I don't think I'm ready for."

"And why is that, dear dreamer?" Jareth asked, approaching her once more, but she held a hand up to keep him back, lest he use his power of touch to convince her otherwise. "You hardly knew anyone at your proms and still you went. What makes this any different?"  
"I knew most of the people at my proms," Samantha told him. "I didn't enjoy the dances as much as I should have though because of my illness…but I did go because I wanted to feel beautiful and elegant. I wanted to feel special like all the other girls and I wanted to feel normal.

"But Jareth, I struggled at prom. The voices and the hallucinations were there, ready to ruin my night and I almost let them. I couldn't have a moment's peace before they bothered me again. I had to think about my medicine and when I could take it again instead of who would be prom queen and king."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth looked at her in wonder, her hand creating distance between the two of them. She had never told him this; never written it down in her journal which she occasionally let him look at if something was bothering her. But it looked like it hurt her and Jareth was ready to take away the hurt.

"Samantha, you could have turned to me at your prom," Jareth said, lifting a hand to entwine his fingers with hers once more. "A whisper of my name and I would have been by your side in an instant. Your friends would have been none the wiser about my sudden appearance and would never question you." He smiled down at her. "I would have been there to help you find peace with the night."

"And you would have cheated to make sure I won prom queen," Samantha muttered, looking away from him. "Something that I didn't want to begin with…Prom court yes. Prom queen no."

Jareth brushed his lips over the back of her hand. "Samantha, tell me. Do you not trust me to keep you happy and safe?"

"Jareth, you know I trust you with my life."

"Then, do you not trust me to keep you happy and safe at this simple ball that I have invited you to?"  
Samantha hesitated. "You know that I trust you, but how can I trust myself?"

"Trust yourself?"

Samantha nodded and turned her gaze to him once more. "How can I be sure that I won't have an episode at this ball? How can I be sure that I won't hurt someone if I have an episode Jareth? If you invite me to this ball, it could ruin your reputation with a single episode on my part."

_So this is the burden she wears on her shoulders,_ Jareth mused, searching her eyes for the pain and sadness that she always carried. They were there, darker and more pronounced than before. _She worries for my reputation like her mere presence can tarnish it…Oh my dear little dreamer…_

"Jareth, it was kind of you to offer me an invitation to your ball, but I think I'll have to pass." Samantha said, bowing her head slightly before looking at him. "Thank you anyway."  
"Samantha, if you do not try now, then you may never try later," Jareth commented with a frown. "Think of it. You will never become happy until you've proven to yourself and your illness, that you can fight and you can win."

"I'm tired of fighting a battle I cannot win," Samantha whispered, looking away from him.

Jareth was startled. "You're giving up?"

"I don't know…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha knew that she didn't want to fight anymore. She just wanted to have a peace that she could not find on her own. Jareth deserved someone who could find their own peace, but she was sure she didn't want to lose him.

"Do not give up, Samantha," Jareth ordered gently, placing his large, warm hands on her shoulders. "This is a fight that you can win. I will help you." He smiled softly. "That is why I will not leave your side at the ball."

"Jareth…" Samantha sighed, placing a hand on his chest. "Do you really think I'm ready for this?"

"I do."

_That makes one of us…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth stood in the ballroom and made light conversation with the king of another realm. His gaze wandered around the room, in search of his dreamer. She had disappeared with a servant girl a few hours earlier to get ready for the ball and he was curious to see what she had done with herself.

He saw his father standing off to one side, talking to a young woman he didn't recognize. It took him a moment, but he realized that it was his dreamer. Her hair was curled and piled on her head in a beautiful fashion with rhinestone hairpieces dotting it. Her makeup was simple but charming. And her dress…Jareth was happy to see that she had chosen the white-silver dress that billowed around her in a flattering way. It left her shoulders bare and that seemed to make her self-conscious because she kept shifting her shoulders.

"Excuse me," Jareth said to the king he was talking to. "There are other matters I must attend to."

The king nodded and turned to talk with one of the eligible young Fae women who seemed to flock to balls. Jareth slipped his way through the crowd and lifted two flutes of champagne off a tray in passing. Samantha seemed to realize he was coming because she turned and looked at him with a soft smile on her lips.

"You look beautiful," Jareth said, handing a flute over to her. He saw the look in her eyes. "I turned it into sparkling water for you…" His eyes turned to his father. "Hello Father."

"Jareth, may I have a word with you?" the High King asked. "In private?"

"I do not keep anything hidden from Samantha. You may speak freely in front of her."

Samantha looked at him. "He wants to talk about me and the problems I'm causing," she commented, taking a sip of her water. "It's not a secret that he's not pleased that you changed me into a Changeling instead of doing what he wanted you to do…Apparently I'm not Fae enough to be Fae."

"Time can change that."

"Time will do nothing but make the problem worse," the High King stated. "She will never be able to function in this world alone if you keep coddling her, Jareth. All of this time you spend with her instead of doing your job is another second that we lose dreamers. If the dreamers fade…our world fades too."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha nearly choked on her drink at those words. "Come again?"

The High King arched an eyebrow. "Jareth didn't tell you?"

"That the world is going to fade away without dreamers? No. He didn't tell me that." Samantha looked at Jareth. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did not want you to worry," Jareth said, slipping an arm around her. "There is no need to worry, really. The Aboveground is full of dreamers, especially since it possesses so many producers of movies and fantasy novels. There will be no shortage of dreamers."

"And what of the believers of you?" the High King asked. "What are you to do if your believers give up the hope because you'd rather spend time with this girl instead of fulfilling your quota?"

"There will always be one believer in me and that is all I need," Jareth stated, looking down at Samantha.

"You're making a grave mistake Jareth," the High King muttered before turning his back on his son and walking away.

Samantha was silent as she finished off her sparkling water and she hoped that it would settle her stomach. Her eyes followed different shadow people through the crowd, even though she knew that they were not real. It seemed like it was time for everything to go wrong…the High King's words leaving a sense of foreboding behind.

"Jareth, why didn't you tell me that all of you were in danger of fading away?" she asked quietly. "That you were in danger of fading?"

"It's nothing to worry about," Jareth stated, taking her flute and placing it on a passing tray with his. "As long as the movie _The Labyrinth _is popular in the Aboveground, there will always be believers in the Underground and in me." He touched her face with a gentle hand. "And as long as you believe in me, my little Changeling, there will be no fading away. I shall be with you forever."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth wished he could see what was making Samantha frown out at the ballroom, but then again, he didn't. It was simply something he couldn't share with his companion, only help with. He could ease the pain, but could not take it away.

"Come," he said, offering her a hand. "Dance with me."

Samantha hesitated in placing her hand in his. "I don't know how to dance."

Jareth smiled, flashing his pearly whites. "I'll teach you, my dear."

He escorted her onto the dance floor and took her hands, placing one lightly on his shoulder and grasping other one with one of his. He placed a hand at her side and guided her into the dance. For awhile she looked down at their feet – hers hidden by her dress – to make sure that she didn't step on his toes. Samantha wasn't the best dance partner, but she was the best for him, he realized. And one day, she'd be able to dance with him with skill and confidence…

"Samantha, look at me," Jareth whispered as the light music surrounded them.

She looked up at him and smiled slightly. "I'm dancing…"  
"You are," Jareth agreed.

"I didn't think I could."

"It is sad, my dear girl, that you believe so much in a dream world and not in yourself," Jareth commented, tipping his head slightly to the side. "Do you know why you do that?"

"Poor self-confidence," Samantha muttered. "I've been led to believe that there are things I can't achieve, things I can't do because I'm not as _perfect_ as others. I don't have the body or the control to do certain things and I don't have the words or voice to do others. I'm faced with the impossible."

"Nothing is impossible."

Samantha looked around them. "I used to think that my dreams were never going to amount to anything, but here I am. I'm in a world of dreams and I've fallen in love with a man who loves me."

"Who is this man?" Jareth teased, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I need to have a word with him for stealing you away from me."

She laughed lightly and Jareth smiled. He loved that sound.

"The impossible is possible my dear," Jareth said when she became quiet again. "You just need to believe in yourself and everything will fall into place."

"It helps to have magic too, I bet." Samantha smiled at him.

"It does." He leaned in close to her. "But I like to think we create our own magic. Now, my dear, shall we enjoy more dances or have you had quite enough for one night."

The music changed and Jareth expected her to go running off, but she didn't. She kept herself firmly in his arms and never left that night…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: Thank you all for your support of this story. It makes me happy to know that I have so many people standing with me as I write this. I hope to continue making good chapters and keep myself focused on the positives of life. I hope you all find the Jareth of your life and make it a special relationship like Samantha has with hers. Please read and review. Thanks. ~ Scarlet**


	7. When Lies Become the Truth

**When Lies Become the Truth**

Samantha didn't want to think, but she couldn't stop thinking about what was going on…

She didn't want to move a muscle, but all she wanted was to run away and never look back…

"_How could you Jareth?" _Samantha wanted to scream at him as she watched him on her bed but her voice wouldn't work. _"How could you do this to me, you…you __**monster**__!" _

Samantha turned her face away from the sight before her and struggled against her bindings. With a harsh ghostly touch, her face was wrenched back into position, so that she was forced to look at the horrid scene playing on her bed.

"Jareth…w-w-why?" she managed to choke out, but a moan was her only answer.

An intimate moan.

The moan that came from the lips of another woman, with whom Jareth was currently entangled in the bed with. Oh how Samantha hated that woman! How she hated Jareth for lying to her!

She felt Jareth's eyes turn to her for a brief moment as he thrust into the woman, pushing her further and further into her climax. Samantha felt herself slipping away a little more with each barbaric, carnal thrust that Jareth made. The woman's hungry lips left little discolorations on Jareth's fair skin and Samantha blinked as she saw in her mind the marks start to bleed.

"Jareth…" Samantha cried out, tossing her head like an animal enraged. "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

Jareth did not answer. He flinched, but he didn't answer as he looked back at the woman tucked in his arms. Samantha growled and struggled against her bindings once more in a bid to get free. To get away from this horrible sight.

Samantha heard the woman cry out Jareth's name as they climaxed in unison. Samantha could smell them release in each other's arms and wished she could rip her nose off. She didn't want to know what was going to happen next. All she wanted was to be free of this.

"Jareth…" she cried, breaking free of her bindings and throwing herself out of the room. Samantha didn't look back as she ran and ran; putting as much distance between her and the man she had given her heart to.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth frowned as he watched Samantha rush from the room. Her room. This was her bed, a bed that was condemned for burning very soon.

His eyes turned to his mate and she smiled coldly at him, daring him to do something. Daring him to leave her for the girl that meant _very little _to him.

What could he possibly want with a girl who could not satisfy him in bed – hadn't even dared to attempt to – in all the time she had spent with him? Jareth could not lie to say that he wasn't satisfied, but he could say that he felt sick the longer he looked after the girl…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha was crying in the gardens of the Labyrinth when she heard someone fast approaching. She turned and wailed at the sight of Jareth, seeing him look at her with such guilt on his face. The longer she looked at him, he changed; she could see his face sliding off and becoming wet with blood. Blue blood, wet and drippy like water.

The Changeling turned and ran blindly into the Labyrinth. She knew it was hopeless to attempt to run away from the Goblin King in his own Labyrinth, but she couldn't think of any other way to get away from him. She kept seeing him appear around corners, almost catching her at times, but she'd slip past him and delve further into the maze.

"Samantha," Jareth whispered, appearing behind her when she came to a dead end. "Samantha, please listen to me."

"No!" Samantha shouted, trying to slide past him, but he moved in her way, blocking her. "No! I trusted you! I trusted you with my heart and this! This is what you do with it? I trusted you dammit!"

Jareth grabbed her by the arm and Samantha jerked away from him as if she had been burned. She looked at her arm like it was a diseased part of her that she would give anything to cut off. Anything just to be rid of his touch.

"Samantha, you must listen to me," Jareth ordered quietly, looking into her eyes, but all she saw were empty holes where his eyes should have been. "Please, see past your illness and look at me!"

"No!" Samantha screamed, writhing in his arms. "I don't believe you! I don't believe in you anymore! You lied to me! You used me! I hate you!"

Jareth looked stunned as he heard those words. Samantha slipped out of his lax grip and ran past him, the Labyrinth opening its walls for her to pass through as if it too resented Jareth touching her. The Changeling twisted through the walls, tears spilling down her face in torrents.

She had to get away, had to move forward – anywhere – she could get away from him. It didn't seem like enough, she could feel his eyes on her everywhere she went, saw his shadow pass overhead as he took flight.

_Please just let me go…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth stood there, watching Samantha vanish down a hill only to rise above the crest of another. She was running in circles, tiring herself out as he fought to remain in control of his body.

She didn't believe in him anymore. She had said those harsh words in the clutches of her sickness. And to admit the truth, Jareth felt sick too.

He had slept with another woman, a woman whose goal was only to hurt those who loved Jareth. She was the reason there was no more Sarah. The reason that he had only had mistresses until he eventually gave up on them as well. Until Samantha entered his life…

_Samantha please, please believe in me again, _Jareth thought, feeling his body move forward after his love. _Please, I can make everything better again. Please, just believe in me._

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha felt herself growing tired, so very tired. She didn't know how long she had run, far too long and still she was within the Labyrinth. She didn't think the Labyrinth wanted to let her go. Certainly, its master didn't and Samantha could feel his eyes on her.

She tripped and made no move to catch herself as she plummeted forward. The Changeling passed through air and landed on her stomach, her jaw clattering as she fell on her face. Her eyes hurt from crying so much, but her soul hurt far worse.

_I said I didn't believe in him anymore_, Samantha thought, closing her eyes against the pain. _I told him that without a second thought, but now it hurts to think about those words. Is he doing this to me? Is he making me feel this way or am I? Is my conscience making me feeling so crappy? I didn't think it was possible for me to feel this way, to feel so empty. All I want is J…_

"No…" Samantha muttered against the dirt. "I don't…I can't…I shouldn't…I won't…"

She couldn't even put a sentence together. Already her mind was going numb without him. Without her Jareth, her love, her rock and sanity.

"Jareth…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_**Jareth watched in horror as the woman who had chased away all his other lovers, bound Samantha to the wall with magic even he couldn't undo without hurting Samantha in her panicked state. Samantha cried out for him and struggled against her invisible bindings, but there was nothing she could do, nothing that he could do to save her except give into the witch's demands.**_

"_**Sleep with me Jareth," the witch ordered coldly, "and I'll let your precious schizophrenic brat loose. Grant me the chance to be a mother to the greatest Fae's offspring and you shall not regret your decision."**_

"_**But I shall," Jareth told her just as coldly. "Giving into you this once will only open up ways for you to worm your way into my life later…Why shouldn't I just call upon the Goddess to have her deal with you?"**_

"_**The Goddess has fallen on deaf ears with you, Jareth," the witch crooned, pressing her body close to his. "She will not come for you, but do the right thing, duckling, and I'm sure I can make this worth your while…"  
"JARETH!" Samantha cried out in fear as her sickness took hold with her fear and anxiety. "Jareth please don't! Please!"**_

"_**It's the only way to save her Jareth," the witch said, lifting one of her hands to run down his chest. "Now, make love to me in front of your lover and I shall release her when you and I climax together…"**_

_**As much as Jareth wanted to deny her, he couldn't get rid of the bindings holding Samantha without her will. Samantha shook her head viciously as he lowered his lips to the witch's and kissed her. The witch hungrily pulled him to her and fell onto the bed with him on top of her…**_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth did not want to be reminded of the events of that day. He had scrubbed away all of the remnants of the witch on his person and he had ordered the burning of the bed. All he felt now was sorrow, guilt, and loss.

These heavy emotions were something that he knew he deserved. He knew he deserved every ounce of pressure they put upon his shoulders because of his actions. He deserved so much worse, but all he could think about was getting to Samantha.

He found her, face down in the dirt, blood trickling from her split lip. She flinched under his touch and she curled away from him when he knelt down beside her. Samantha rose shakily to her feet and looked down at him with glassy, haunted eyes. She shook her head at the sight of him on his knees before her and twisted out of his reach.

"Samantha," he whispered, climbing to his feet once more when he saw that she was about to fall again. "Please, let me take you back to the castle. I must speak with you."

"No!" Samantha snapped, shaking her head like an animal again. "Do not use that tone with me. Do not call me by my name. That's not what you were doing when that witch was there with you, moaning your name. You called me 'she', 'her', everything but my name. It's not like I matter." She glared at him with one eye. "You stopped believing in me."

"No," Jareth said, reaching for her. "Samantha, I would sooner kill myself than stop believing in you." His eyes took on pain when he saw the way she was looking at him: seeing without actually seeing. "Samantha, you said you didn't believe in me anymore. Is that true?"

Samantha shrugged and ran a hand through her tangled hair. "Yes…No…I don't know. Maybe. I can't…I won't…"  
She turned slightly and smacked air, spinning with the momentum of her swing and nearly falling. Jareth leaped forward and caught her gently in his arms.

"Samantha, please. Please believe in me again."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha frowned at Jareth, remembering his words, remembering how he had tried to reason with the witch. It hadn't done much good to reason with anyone, the witch had still gotten her way. Samantha could hardly stand to look at Jareth anymore, but she did and what she saw put fear in her heart.

He was paler, oh so much paler than he had ever been. His clothes appeared washed out in color and were steadily growing as faint as his skin. Samantha realized with a start that he was fading away from her, fading away from this world.

"Jareth…this is my fault," Samantha whispered, reaching out a hand to touch him. "If I had run sooner, she'd never had gotten hold of me. And you wouldn't have -"

Jareth touched his fingers to hers, sliding his in the spaces between hers. Samantha felt the warmth leaving them as her non-belief in him took hold. She didn't know how long it would be until he completely faded away, taking away this fantastic world and her dreams.

"Samantha, this is not your fault," Jareth told her firmly, holding her close. "It is my fault. I should have dealt with that witch long before I ever knew you. She would not have come here today if I had dealt with her then. So this…all of this, is my fault."

Samantha felt him sink down onto his knees, his forehead resting gently against her stomach. She looked down at him, a frown tugging at her lips.

"Samantha….I am unworthy to walk on the same ground you do, to touch you as intimately as I do…" Jareth whispered, his voice faint to her ears as he spoke against her stomach. "I have betrayed you as no man should betray his love…I have tainted your bed and put fear in your heart when it was my duty to keep your bed pure and to protect you from the fear…I have committed a grave sin and I ask for forgiveness that I am not worthy of having…I ask for you to believe in me, though I do not deserve it…I ask for a second chance and I ask you to let me protect you from the fear and the sickness that seeks to overtake you…"

Samantha lifted her hand slightly. "Jareth…"  
"I love you, Samantha," the Goblin King murmured.

Tears welled up in Samantha's eyes as he said those words and she felt him grow less substantial. She had longed to hear him say those words, knowing very well that he had fallen in love with her, but had refused to say those three little words. Now she knew it might be too late.

"Jareth," Samantha began, hesitating for a moment before placing a hand on his head. "Jareth…I forgive you…"

Her hand trailed down the curve of his cheek when he looked up at her, touching him far softer than the witch had. Samantha brushed away his silent tears with her thumbs and lowered her face down to his. His lips brushed over hers, kissing her tenderly.

"I believe in you," she whispered in his ear as he continued to grow paler. "Please Jareth, come back to me…I _believe_ in you…"  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth had felt himself slipping further and further into nonexistence and had felt the fear rise up in him. He had thought that he had gone too far this time and that he was going to pay the ultimate price.

Then Samantha's forgiveness came like an angel's grace and her belief was restored in him. Jareth had never been so thankful to have a woman like Samantha, kind and always ready to forgive.

Jareth rose to his feet once more and kissed Samantha deeply, pulling her as close to him as he could. Samantha entangled one of her hands in his hair and placed a hand over his heart like she was unsure that he would stay with her.

"I will never leave you," Jareth whispered to her when she turned her face away to breathe. "I will never betray you like I did again, Samantha. All I ask, my love, is that you continue to believe in me and give me a second chance. I shall not let you down."

Samantha looked at him once more and a look of uncertainty passed over her face. "Will you love me forever?"

"Much much longer," Jareth promised. "Will you do the same?"

"Even longer," Samantha breathed, touching her lips to his again. "Much much longer."

Jareth smiled into the kiss and lifted her off her feet, holding her in his arms as he would if she were his bride. She laughed lightly as he spun with her in his arms and they appeared in the gardens she loved so much. Jareth set her down on one of the benches and sat down next to her, taking her hands in his, kissing the back of one of them.

"Forever then shall we share this love…"

OOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: This was one my angst moments taking control. I wanted it to turn out better, but Samantha simply had to believe in Jareth. She had to believe in his love, like he wanted her to believe in herself in the last chapter. It just had to happen and I'm sorry if I offended anyone by making Jareth 'cheat' on Samantha. It probably won't happen again, but the witch may show up again. *I make no promises on the witch part.* **

**I hope that I continue to have your support with this story and gain more support as the story progresses towards its eventual ending. (Yes, it must come to an end sometime.) And I hope that you continue to review my chapters because I do read them, even after the story has come to an end. I bid you a good day and ask you to review this chapter. Thanks. ~ Scarlet **


	8. The Story of Us

**A/N: I can't believe how well-received this story has been! You guys are awesome and I thank you for all of your support. However, I have to end the story with this last chapter update. This story and the support I've received with it has helped me cope with my own problems and I hope it has given you some hope, that it made you strive to find your own happily ever after.**

**So for now, he's the short and sweet final chapter…**

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**The Story of Us**

Samantha wandered around the gardens, trying not to think about the little hallucinations that were following her around. She didn't want to think about how she'd been having more hallucinations than usual and how they were becoming so mean to her. Especially the one that had returned with a new harsher attitude…Eddie. All she wanted was to think of her future in the Underground, but Eddie was persistent.

"I am not a fat ass, Eddie," Samantha insisted, turning to look at him. "That's not a very nice thing to say…No…Jareth doesn't think I am a fat ass. Go away."

Of course Eddie didn't listen to her. He never really had before, not even when he was a comic relief in her life. That was years ago. She missed the funny Eddie.

"No Eddie!" Samantha snapped. "I am not going to hurt anyone! Go away or I'll poke the voices with a Q-tip again and blame it on you! Now go away."

Eddie fell silent, only snickering and floating around her.

Samantha rolled her eyes and pulled a purple rose off a bush, sniffing it lightly. "Hello Jareth," she whispered without turning around.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth had watched Samantha wander around the gardens through a crystal ball, waiting for her to have a semi-lucid moment. It seemed like Eddie, her more prominent hallucination, was giving her a hard time for awhile. He was proud of how she was handling the situation. With grace and calm, except for the threats she made towards Eddie. When she stopped talking to Eddie, Jareth appeared behind her.

"Samantha," Jareth said in greeting. "There is something I must discuss with you…"

Samantha turned to face him and smiled slightly, holding out the rose. "For the bitter and sweet…"

Jareth reached out to touch the rose, but it turned into a purple butterfly and flew away. Samantha giggled when he caught hold of her hand. He held it as they started walking around the garden, skin on skin.

"Samantha, it's been a year since you came to live with me in the Underground," Jareth began.

"It's been that long?" Samantha asked, looking up at him. He nodded. "It feels so much shorter than that…even with the extra two hours in the day."

"It is but a moment in time for me," Jareth agreed. "Each moment as special as the next..."

"I'm nineteen now, going on twenty," Samantha commented quietly. "Where did the time go?" She looked out at the fairies floating around the garden. "How is your father?"

"Busy, but obviously not busy enough to stay out of my affairs," Jareth commented. "He thinks I should have already been married with heirs on the way."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Samantha let the silence fall between them. The witch that had slept with Jareth a year ago, had not been able to become pregnant. Jareth said it was because the Goddess did not want an heir to come from such a horrible person. Samantha silently thanked his Goddess, but thanked her God with a little more happiness. The thought of having Jareth forced to marry a witch was not something she wanted to think about.

"Well, I suppose you should get married as soon as possible," Samantha said quietly. "There are plenty of eligible women out there."

Jareth turned to face her with slight annoyance in his eyes. "I will not marry anyone except for you, Samantha. I thought you knew how I feel about you."

Samantha nodded and stared at his amulet. "I do, but your father doesn't like me, does he? Or is that how he is around any human-Changeling?"

"Yes."

The Changeling rolled her eyes. She still hadn't gotten used to Jareth's lack of answering questions directly or at all. And she had known him for years now. She sighed and turned her face away from him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jareth knew he was annoying her and regretted it after all she had done for him. He cupped her chin with his hand and gently turned her face so that it was facing him again. Her green eyes looked up into them and Jareth felt himself being pulled into it as if they were magnets and he, metal. A soft smile graced his face as he looked at her inner beauty that shone through her outer beauty.

_She'll never know how much she affects me with just a simple look_, Jareth thought, holding her close to him.

"Samantha," he said quietly. "I do not care what my father thinks about you. You are my beautiful dreamer. My best friend. The light of my world. That's all that should matter to you." He placed a tender kiss against her lips. "Do not think about my father."

The little dreamer nodded in agreement. "As you wish."

Jareth pulled a crystal ball out of thin air and placed it on her palm, gently putting his hand over it. When he pulled his hand away, a silver ring laid gleaming against her pale skin. Samantha gasped quietly.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Jareth!" Samantha stared at the ring as he plucked it off her palm. "What –what are you doing?"

"The right thing," Jareth commented, getting down on one knee.

He took hold of her left hand and looked up at her. Samantha put a hand over her mouth, staring down at him in awe. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Samantha Marie…you are my saving grace, the love of my life…" Jareth said slowly. "I do not deserve you after everything that I've done wrong to you in this life, but I cannot be without you. You make me the happiest man in all the worlds we've visited together and I hope I make you just as happy. The story of us can finally open a new chapter if you want this as badly as I do." He held the ring up. "Will you become my Queen?"

Samantha nodded and felt her eyes grow wet. "Yes, Jareth. Yes!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: I know this was short, but I hope you can handle that. I hope you'll review and look upon your fellow man with new eyes. The people like me who have disabilities are just like those without disabilities. We hurt. We love. And we win our happiness. Please review and thanks again for all your support. Remember… There can never be a more beautiful you. ~ Scarlet**


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